Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 93: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of companies that are supported by the Industrial Development Authority on a county basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5824/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There were 987 IDA supported companies operating in Ireland in 2009. A breakdown of that number on a county-by-county basis is shown in the following tabular statement.

Despite the difficult global economic environment Ireland continues to attract foreign direct investment from many of the world's leading companies and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will continue to be a key driver of employment, exports and growth. Ireland's corporate tax rate of 12.5%, our multilingual skilled workforce and our strategic location to serve markets in Europe, has served us well in attracting investors and will continue to do so. Many multinational companies are restructuring their global operations, leading to global rationalisation, making it particularly important to work to retain current investment, stimulate expansion, and secure new projects.

I am in the process of reviewing a new strategy for the future direction of FDI, which IDA has developed, and subject to my approval, will shortly be published. This strategy will set out some specific initiatives, which IDA will be undertaking to retain existing and secure new FDI. In addition, it will identify opportunities in the FDI markets, while stressing the importance of restoring our relative international competitiveness if we are to maximise FDI potential.

While it is clear that we are operating in a very difficult economic environment, there are still investment opportunities in global markets and IDA will continue to compete vigorously for projects for Ireland. Already in 2010 IDA has had some success in attracting FDI and to date there have been eight announcements with the potential to create at least 350 new jobs.

Table showing the number of IDA supported companies in Ireland in 2009 on a county-by-county basis